Faced with press blocking at Meta, Quebecers are turning to traditional media sites

In Canada, Meta's blocking of the sharing of press articles on its social networks Facebook and Instagram has had a positive consequence: Quebecers are once again getting their information on traditional media websites. “29% of Quebec adults have had to change their news habits because of Meta's blocking of online news. This proportion is 61% among 18 to 34 year olds,” states a study from Laval University in Quebec. “4% of adults have abandoned social networks as the most frequently used source of information, while a 4% gain is observed among websites offering information content. »

And this survey specifies: “One in five Quebec adults with a Facebook account intends to close it if the blocking of online news by Meta continues. » It is young Quebecers who say they are the most upset. More than 35% of 18-24 year olds and 36% of 25-34 year olds announce that they will close their Facebook account if the situation persists.

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Ottawa adopted Bill C-18 on online news in June, under which Google and Meta must pay royalties since December 19 for articles from Canadian media that they broadcast on their platforms. Fury from the leaders of Meta, who have been blocking access to Canadian articles on their Facebook and Instagram applications since August 1. And if the inhabitants of La Belle Province once again favor the websites of newspapers, radios and televisions as their primary source of information, the American group remains inflexible.

During a hearing at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information in mid-December, Meta's head of public policy in Canada, Rachel Curran, even attempted to divide the media class by proposing a separate agreement with local and community media.

“If we were excluded from Bill C-18, so that the requirements of this legislation did not apply to Meta, or if there was an exclusion for local news, we could bring them back to our platforms . » But without offering a dollar in exchange, because there is no question of paying “an uncapped, unknown amount, for content that has no commercial value,” added Rachel Curran, sparking media outrage local.

Several experts have estimated that the revival of Canadian news, both local and national, brings Meta around $200 million per year, out of a total advertising revenue in Canada of $4 billion.

If Meta's attitude irritates Canadian public opinion, it is also because Google, at the end of an agreement concluded with Ottawa at the beginning of December, will pay 100 million dollars per year into a fund that the Ministry of Heritage (Culture ) will redistribute to Canadian media. As soon as the news was announced, the representatives of the latter fought in the public square so that their media could obtain a share of the jackpot promised by Google.

Several political party leaders have asked the federal government to reserve the $100 million for private media only. The Minister of Heritage, Pascale St-Onge, caused an outcry at the end of last week by declaring that the public radio and television channels CBC-Radio-Canada, recipients of more than $1 billion in public money, would receive seven million dollars per year from the Google fund.

The blocking of news on Meta has had various consequences in the country. While Quebec called for a boycott of advertising purchases on Meta and this call was rather well followed in the province, it was a failure in English-speaking Canada. As for the political parties, although they were among the first to denounce the behavior of the American giant, most continued to discreetly buy advertising on Meta.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie announced their separation on Instagram in August, after the company had already begun blocking Canadian news. Both the political class and the media are very dependent on Meta, to the point where one MP wondered if it was not an “essential service”.

In a joint letter recently published in the Quebec press, the directors of around ten French-speaking media outlets recognized their powerlessness. They deplore it: “Before the blocking, Facebook and Instagram were major levers for promoting our content. We are now apprehending the repercussions of a drop in visibility of our content, naturally leading to a decline in our advertising revenue, which has already been affected for several years by the migration of a portion of advertising to web giants. ".